Methods and apparatus to perform wireless peering in communication systems

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus to route communications at an interexchange carrier are disclosed. One method of routing communications may include receiving a communication at the interexchange carrier, determining a destination at which the communication is to terminate, and routing the communication from the interexchange carrier through a terminating access charge free line to a terminating mobile telephone switching office.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/022,620,filed on Dec. 27, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,499,702, the entire contentof which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure pertains to communication systems and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to perform wireless peering incommunication systems.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems, such as cellular and personalcommunication systems, have become increasingly popular. Years ago,subscriber cost of owning a wireless communication device (e.g., acellular telephone), which included the hardware and the service planprovided by the wireless carrier, was quite high. As the cost ofownership has decreased, the number of wireless communication systemusers has increased.

The widespread popularity of wireless communications has lead to intensecompetition in the marketplace. Wireless carriers heavily advertise andstructure multiple, differentiated service plans to entice customers tosubscribe to their service(s). This competition has also increased pricepressure on wireless carriers, thereby driving wireless carriers to findmore and more efficient business practices.

One major source of cost for wireless carriers are the interconnectioncharges incurred when routing wireless calls through landline networks.For example, when a wireless subscriber places a call directed outsidehis/her local access and transport area (i.e., an inter-LATA call), amobile telephone switching office (MTSO) receives the call informationfrom the wireless communication device (e.g., the subscriber's cellulartelephone). The MTSO routes the call through dedicated access lines(DALs) to a long distance carrier (LD), which may also be referred to asan interexchange carrier (IXC). In the alternative, DALs may not bepresent and the MTSO may route the call to the LD or IXC via a firstlocal exchange carrier (LEC). The LD, in turn, routes the call into asecond LEC over direct end office trunks (DEOTs) or access tandemtrunks. The connection from the LD to the LEC causes the LD to incurterminating access charges for the use of the LEC. The LD may pass theseterminating charges to a wireless carrier, which may, in turn, pass theterminating charges onto the wireless subscriber. These charges areeither borne by the LD or passed on to the wireless carrier, therebyreducing profitability of the wireless carrier. If the charges arefurther passed to a wireless subscriber, such charges affect thesubscriber usage cost and, in turn, possibly affect the subscriber'svalue perception of the service subscription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example wireless network in which wirelesspeering is implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representation of the relevant aspects of theLD voice switch of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an implementation of the LD voiceswitch of FIG. 1 using time domain multiplexing (TDM) technology.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an implementation of the LD voiceswitch of FIG. 1 using TMD and Internet protocol (IP) technology.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram representative of an example process performedby the originating MTSO of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram representative of an example process performedby the LD voice switch of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram representative of an example process performedby the terminating MTSO of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, a wireless network 100 includes local space 102 andlong distance space 104, each of which includes a number of componentsand interconnections that are described in detail below. For ease ofreference, the long distance space components are designated with (LD)in FIG. 1. As disclosed herein, when a first wireless device 106initiates a wireless call from the local space 102 that passes throughthe long distance space 104 on its way to a second wireless device 108,LEC charges are eliminated because DALs are used to link the longdistance space 104 to the MTSO supporting the second wireless device108. For clarity and ease of understanding voice-carrying communicationlines are shown as solid lines in FIG. 1, whereas signaling lines areshown as dashed lines.

Turning now in further detail to FIG. 1, the local space 102 includesthe first wireless device 106 in communication with a first wirelessMTSO 110. For ease of description, the first wireless device 106 and thefirst wireless MTSO 110 are referred to as the originating wirelessdevice 106 and the originating MTSO 110. However, it will be readilyunderstood that the designation of these components as originating ismerely for purposes of clearly describing the call flow of the example.

The originating MTSO 110 is linked to a wireless carrier signal transferpoint (STP) 112 via signaling lines 114. In terms of local spacecomponents, the originating MTSO 110 is also linked to an LEC accesstandem switch 116, via type 2 trunks 118. The originating MTSO 110 andthe LEC access tandem switch 116 reside within a first LATA 120.

A second LATA 130, in which the second wireless device 108 is disposed,includes a second wireless MTSO 132. The second wireless device 108 andthe second wireless MTSO 132 are referred to hereinafter as theterminating wireless device 108 and the terminating MTSO 132,respectively. It will be readily appreciated that the reference to thewireless device 108 and the wireless MTSO 132 as “terminating” is merelyfor purposes of call flow description in this example.

As will be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in theart, the first and second LATAs 120, 130 may be located ingeographically separated areas. For example, the first and second LATAs120, 130 may be located in different areas of the same state or county.Additionally, the MTSOs 110, 132 may be located in vastly separatedgeographical areas, such as in different countries or on differentcontinents.

The terminating MTSO 132 is coupled to an LEC access tandem switch 134and/or an LEC class 5 switch 136 via type 2 trunks 138 and 140,respectively. The terminating MTSO 132 is coupled to a wireless carrierSTP 142 via signaling lines 144. The LEC access tandem switch 134 andthe LEC class 5 switch 136 are coupled to an LEC STP 146 via signalinglines 148 and 150, respectively. The LEC STP 146 is also coupled to theLEC access tandem switch 116 via signaling lines 150. Of course, theaccess tandem switch 116 could be serviced by an alternate,geographically proximate STP via a signaling network.

The MTSOs 110, 132 may be implemented using any suitable MTSOs, such asthose used by Cingular wireless. For example, the originating MTSO 110may be manufactured by Siemens, Motorola, etc.

To facilitate inter-LATA connectivity (i.e., communication between theLATA 120 and the LATA 130) via the long distance space 104, the LECaccess tandem switches 116, 134 are coupled to the long distance space104 via access tandem trunks 152, 154, respectively. Further, in theexample of FIG. 1, the MTSOs 110, 132, and the LEC class 5 switch 136are coupled to the long distance space 104 via DALs 156, 158, and a DEOT160.

The long distance space 104 includes an LD voice switch 170 (alsoreferred to hereinafter as an interexchange carrier) that providesinter-LATA connectivity between the LATA 120 and the LATA 130. Asdescribed above and as well known by those having ordinary skill in theart, the LD voice switch 170 conveys voice signals using both DALs(e.g., the DALs 156 and 158) and access tandem trunks (e.g., the accesstandem trunks 152, 154). However, in contrast to prior systems, the DALs156, 158, which connect the LD voice switch 170 to the MTSOs 110, 132,are configured to operate in a bi-directional manner. The DALs 156, 158are not subject to interconnection charges and, therefore, thebi-directional DALs may be used to provide inter-LATA connectivitybetween the MTSOs 110, 132 without incurring additional LEC terminatingaccess charges (i.e., terminating access charges).

According to one example, the long distance space 104 further includesan onboard local number portability (LNP) database 172 and an onboardwireless number block (WNB) database 174, both of which may be coupleddirectly to the LD voice switch 170. The databases 172, 174 may beimplemented using one or more databases located on a single device suchas a hard drive. Alternatively, the databases 172, 174 may beimplemented on individual devices.

The LD voice switch 170 (i.e., an interexchange carrier) is coupled toan LD STP 178 via signaling lines 180. The LD STP 178 may, in turn, becoupled to an off board LNP database 182, an off board WNB database 184,the wireless carrier STP 112, and the LEC STP 146, via signaling lines186, 188, 190, and 192, respectively. The databases 182, 184 may beimplemented using any suitable database technology on any suitablemedia. The databases 182, 184 are coupled to the signaling network andmay be queried by the LD voice switch 170, even though the databases182, 184 may not be located proximate the LD voice switch 170.

The WNB databases 174, 184 may be implemented as portions or images ofthe Local Exchange Routing Guide (LERG) database, which is a databasethat accounts for the number blocks that are assigned to variousentities or locations. For example, Cingular wireless may be assignednumbers in the block between the number (847) 312-0000 and the number(847) 312-4999. The portions of the WNB databases 174, 184 that arerelevant to a particular LD are defined by the peering partnerships theLD has. A peering partnership is a business relationship between a LDand a wireless carrier. For example, SBC, a known LD, may have a peeringpartnership with the Cingular network. Accordingly, the portions of theWNB databases 174, 184 relevant to SBC would include the number blocksassigned to Cingular customers. Through the use of peering partnerships,LEC terminating access charges (or simply terminating access charges)may be reduced or eliminated through the use of terminating accesscharge free lines running between the LD and the MTSO supporting awireless subscriber.

The LNP databases 172, 182 may be images of databases that aremaintained by a governmental entity, such as the Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC), to track telephone numbers that have been ported fromtheir home office. The LD voice switch 170 uses the databases 174, 184and the databases 172, 182 to determine whether a call destination is awireless subscriber and whether that wireless subscriber has movedhis/her wireless number to another network (e.g., another wirelessnetwork).

Generally, during operation, the originating wireless device 106establishes communication with the originating MTSO 110. Suchcommunication may be, for example, a message including an automaticnumber identification (ANI) of the originating party and an ANI of theterminating party, which, for this example, is the terminating wirelessdevice 108. The originating MTSO 110 determines in a known manner thatthe call is an inter-LATA call that must be routed through the longdistance space 104. Accordingly, the originating MTSO 110 uses thesignaling network, which may be implemented by a Signaling System 7(SS7) network or any other suitable network, to contact the LD voiceswitch 170 to reserve a circuit on the DAL 156 to provide voiceconnectivity.

As part of the communications between the originating MTSO 110 and theLD voice switch 170 (i.e., the interexchange carrier), the LD voiceswitch 170 determines the destination for the call (e.g., the LD voiceswitch 170 may use the ANI of the terminating party provided by theoriginating MTSO 110). As described in detail below, based on, forexample, the ANI information of the terminating wireless device 108, theLD voice switch 170 determines if the destination of the call is awireless device that has not ported from its home office. If thedestination of the call is a wireless device (as it is in the example ofFIG. 1), the LD voice switch 170 contacts the terminating MTSO 132 toreserve a circuit on the DAL 158. The use of the DAL 158 eliminates theinterconnection charges associated with LECs.

As shown in further detail in FIG. 2, the LD voice switch 170 includes adestination identifier 202 coupled to a wireless destination determiner204. The wireless destination determiner 204 is, in turn, coupled to aported-out determiner 206 that is coupled to a voice router 208.Additionally, the voice router 208 is coupled to the access tandem trunk154, as well as the DALs 156, 158, and the DEOT 160.

In operation of the LD voice switch 170, the destination identifier 202receives signaling messages from, for example, the originating MTSO 110via the signaling system. The signaling messages include informationidentifying the destination or termination point for the call (i.e., thetelephone number of the called party). The destination identifier 202processes the signaling messages to determine the destination of thecall.

The destination of the call, as determined by the destination identifier202, passes to the wireless destination determiner 204. The wirelessdestination determiner 204 determines if the call destination is awireless subscriber, such as the wireless device 108 having a peeringpartnership with the LD by virtue of the wireless carrier having abusiness relationship with the LD. As described in further detail below,this determination may be made using the WNB databases 174, 184.

If the call destination is a wireless subscriber, the ported-outdeterminer 206 determines whether the wireless subscriber has ported outof his or her home office. That is, the wireless destination determiner204 makes a preliminary determination as to whether the call destinationis a wireless caller and the ported-out determiner 206 determineswhether the call destination is still a wireless caller, or whether theuser has ported his or her wireless telephone number over to anothercommunication system, such as another provider. The ported-outdetermination may be carried out using the LNP databases 172, 182.

Based on the determinations made by the wireless destination determiner204 and the ported-out determiner 206, the voice router 208 controls howthe communication received from the originating MTSO 110 on the DAL 156is routed. If the call destination is not a wireless caller, or is awireless number that has been ported out, the voice router 208 routesthe call to the destination through conventional paths, including, forexample, the LEC access tandem 154. Alternatively, if the calldestination is a wireless caller who has not ported out of the system,the communication from the originating MTSO 110 is routed to theterminating MTSO 132 via the DAL 158, thereby wirelessly peering thefirst and second wireless devices 106, 108. Further implementationaldetail is provided below in conjunction with FIGS. 3-6, which includeschematic and flow diagram representations of further exampleimplementations of the LD voice switch 170.

As shown in FIG. 3, the LD voice switch 170 (i.e., the interexchangecarrier), in one implementation, includes a processor 302 havingassociated memory 304 and input/output (I/O) hardware 306. The processor302 is also coupled to a signaling port 308 to support, for example, SS7signaling, and switch fabric 310, also referred to as a switch matrix.The switch fabric 310 is coupled to one or more trunk peripherals 312,314, that are coupled to the DALs 156, 158. The LD voice switch 170 ofFIG. 3 is a time domain multiplexed (TDM) switch.

The processor 302 may be any type of processing unit, such as amicroprocessor from the Intel® Pentium® family of microprocessors, theIntel® Itanium® family of microprocessors, and/or the Intel XScale®family of processors. The memory 304 may be any suitable memory deviceand may be sized to fit the storage and operational demands of the LDvoice switch 170. The memory 304 may be random access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), or any other magnetic or optical memory. The memory304 may store instructions, such as those used to implement thefunctionality of FIG. 6 below, which are retrieved and executed by theprocessor 302. The memory 304 could be a part of, or be separate from,the processor 302.

The I/O hardware 306 may be any suitable hardware, such as a bus.Although the I/O hardware 306 is shown as being separate from theprocessor 302, the I/O hardware 306 could form a part thereof. As shown,the I/O hardware 306 may be connected to the onboard LNP database 172and the onboard WNB database 174.

The signaling port 308 may be any suitable hardware and/or softwaredevice or devices that perform signaling using any suitable protocol.For example, the signaling port 308 may be configured to carry outcommunications using the SS7 signaling protocol, or any other suitableprotocol.

The switching fabric 310 may be any suitable device that is commonlyknown to those having ordinary skill in the art. In general, as known tothose having ordinary skill in the art, the switching fabric 310responds to commands, signals, or instructions from the processor 302 tocontrol interconnection between the trunk peripherals 312, 314. Asdisclosed herein, in response to signals from the processor 302, theswitching fabric 310 may interconnect the trunk peripherals 312, 314 totransfer signals from the DAL 156 to the DAL 158, thereby providing LECterminating access charge free voice connectivity between theoriginating MTSO 110 and the terminating MTSO 132.

The trunk peripherals 312, 314 are interface devices that communicatewith the DALs 156, 158 to provide connectivity between the MTSOs 110,132 and the LD voice switch 170. As will be readily appreciated by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art, the trunk peripherals 312, 314 may beconfigured to define the DALs 156, 158 for uni-directional orbi-directional communication. As disclosed herein, the trunk peripherals312, 314 are configured to define the DALs 156, 158 for bi-directionalcommunication so that communications between the MTSOs 110, 132 may becarried out without traversing LEC lines that accrue terminating accesscharges.

FIG. 4 shows an alternate implementation of the LD voice switch 400,which operates using TDM and Internet protocol (IP) techniques. Asdescribed in detail below, TDM components interface to certain portionsof the network that operate using TDM. Other portions of the LD voiceswitch 400 operating using IP. The LD voice switch 400 may be referredto as a soft switch. While the LD voice switch 170 components areconcentrated in a single geographical location, the components of the LDvoice switch 400 may be geographically dispersed.

In particular, like the LD voice switch 170 described in conjunctionwith FIG. 3, the LD voice switch 400 includes a processor 402, a memory404, I/O hardware 406, and a signaling port 408. However, the LD voiceswitch 400 of FIG. 4 includes a router 410, such as a packet switchedrouter that is configured to route IP formatted packets in a desiredmanner. The router 410 interfaces to a network 412, such as anasynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network or an IP backbone. As will bereadily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, thenetwork 412 may be any suitable network, including the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 4, routers 414, 416 connect to one another through thenetwork 412. Like the router 410, the routers 414 and 416 are configuredto transfer IP packets over the network 412, thereby enablingIP-formatted calling information, such as voice over IP (VOIP) to becarried out. The routers 414, 416 are coupled to trunk peripheral mediagateways 418, 420, via IP voice virtual trunks 422, 424. The trunkperipheral media gateways 418, 420 are coupled to the wireless MTSOs110, 142. The switching fabric 310 of FIG. 3, is effectively replaced bya wide area data network in FIG. 4.

When voice information is received by the trunk peripheral gateway 418in a TDM format, the trunk peripheral gateway 418 converts the TDMinformation into IP formatted information. In other words, the call isconverted from a TDM format to an IP format that may be routed over thenetwork 412. The router 414 then communicates with the router 410 thatprovides routing information for the call. Accordingly, the call willthen be appropriately routed through the network 412. The router 416passes the IP formatted call information to the trunk peripheral mediagateway 420, which converts the call information from the IP format to aTDM format before passing the call information to the wireless MTSO 142.

With regard to wireless peering, the LD voice switch 400 may operate ina similar or identical manner to the LD voice switch 170. That is, theLD voice switch 400 may receive a call, determine the destination of thecall and whether that call is a wireless subscriber that is eligible tobe wirelessly peered based on a wireless peering partnership thewireless carrier has with the LD. If wireless peering is available, thecall is routed via lines that do no carry terminating charges, such asLEC terminating access charges.

The following describes various example processes that may be used toimplement the disclosed system. In particular, FIGS. 5-7 discloseprocesses carried out by the originating MTSO 110, the LD voice switch170, and the terminating MTSO 132, respectively, to route calls from theoriginating MTSO 110 to the terminating MTSO 132 without the terminatingaccess charge bearing lines (i.e., thorough terminating access chargefree lines such as DALs 156, 158). The result is that the first andsecond wireless devices 106, 108 are peered together. Although for easeof description the processes of FIGS. 5-7 are described in series,certain portions of such processes may temporally overlap one anotherand/or such processes may interact with one another.

An example, originating MTSO process 500, which may be carried out bythe originating MTSO 110, is shown in FIG. 5. The following descriptionof FIG. 5 is provided with reference to the network configuration shownin FIG. 1. Accordingly, the functionality of the process 500 will bedescribed with respect to components or structures shown in FIG. 1, butsuch description is merely for illustrative purposes. It will be readilyunderstood that the process 500 may be used in conjunction with othernetwork configurations than that shown in FIG. 1. Generally, the process500 may be carried out by hardware and/or software implementing theoriginating MSTO 110. For example, software instructions or code may beexecuted by a processor or some other device to implement thefunctionality represented by FIG. 5. As will be readily appreciated bythose having ordinary skill in the art, the functionality represented inFIG. 5 is similar or identical to conventional functionality typicallyincluded in a MTSO. In general, as described in detail below, theprocess 500 includes signaling and voice control that is conventionallycarried out between the originating MTSO 110 and the LD voice switch170.

Turning now to FIG. 5 in detail, the originating MTSO process 500 beginswhen the originating MTSO 110 receives a call from a calling party(block 502). For example, the first wireless device 106 communicateswith the originating MTSO 110 to manifest a user's desire to originate acall. The process 500 then determines the location at which the call isto be terminated and, if the call is an inter-LATA call, sends asignaling message to the LD voice switch 170 to request establishment ofa communication link over the DAL 156 (block 504). Subsequently, theoriginating MTSO 110 and the LD voice switch 170 negotiate reservationof a circuit on the DAL 156 connecting the MTSO 110 and the LD voiceswitch 170 (block 506).

After the circuit has been reserved between the originating MTSO and theswitch (block 506), it is determined if the switch and the terminatingMTSO have reserved a circuit and whether the called party has answeredthe request for communication (block 508). The process 500 waits for thecircuit to be reserved and the called party to answer before passingvoice signals to the terminating MTSO via the switch (block 510).

As will be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in theart, the switching communications that take place between the MTSO 110and the LD voice switch 170 may be carried out using the switchingsystem lines shown as dotted lines in FIG. 1, using various signaltransfer points. For example, the MTSO 110 may communicate with the LDvoice switch 170 via the wireless carrier STP 112 and the LD STP 178.

A switch process 600 is shown in FIG. 6. The switch process 600 may becarried out by software executed on a processor, such as the processor302 of the LD voice switch 170. For example, machine readableinstructions implementing the functionality of the process 600 may bestored in the memory 304 or the processor 302 and executed by theprocessor 302 to carry out the functionality of the process 600 of FIG.6. Alternatively, the instructions may be stored in the memory 404 orthe processor 402 and executed by the processor 402 to implement thefunctionality of FIG. 6.

The process 600 begins execution by the LD voice switch 170 receiving asignaling message from the originating MTSO 110 (block 602). Forexample, the signaling message that is received may be the signalingmessage sent at block 504 of FIG. 5. Upon receiving the signalingmessage (block 602), the LD voice switch 170 determines the identity ofthe called party (block 604). As will be readily appreciated by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art, the LD voice switch 170 may determinecaller identity using any number of different techniques including usingANI information provided in the signaling message from the originatingMTSO 110.

After having determined the identity of the called party (block 604),the LD voice switch 170 determines if the called party has a numberfound in the WNB database 174, 184 (block 606). As noted previously, theWNB database 174, 184 is a database that accounts for the number blocksthat are assigned to various entities or locations. The portion of theWNB database 174, 184 that is searched corresponds to the networkarchitecture, the owner of the LD voice switch 170, and any peeringpartnerships that the LD voice switch owner may have. For example, ifSBC long distance is the owner of the LD voice switch 170 and CingularWireless, which is an affiliate of SBC, operates the MTSOs 110, 132, theLD voice switch 170 will query the portion of the WNB database thatdefines the numbers assigned to Cingular wireless customers to determineif the party being called is a Cingular customer to whom the benefit ofeliminating terminating charge may be passed (i.e., if the called partyis eligible to be peered with the calling party to avoid interconnectioncharges).

If the party being called is not in the WNB database (block 606), the LDvoice switch 170 terminates the call normally via the class 5 switch orthe LEC access tandem providing connectivity to the party being called(block 608). The process 600 then ends or returns to its callingroutine.

As will be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in theart, the advent of telephone number portability allows a customer tochange between wireless service carriers without changing his or herwireless telephone number. For example, a customer using originallyusing Verizon service and, therefore, having a telephone number fallingin the Verizon portion of the WNB, may move (i.e., port) his or hernumber to a Cingular service plan. Accordingly, even though the customerhas a Verizon number, that number has ported out of its home office. TheWNB databases 174, 184 do not update to reflect porting that may haveoccurred. Accordingly, the LD voice switch, upon determining that thecalled party is in the wireless number block of interest, must accountfor customers who may have ported out of their home offices of service(block 610). As will be readily appreciated by those having ordinaryskill in the art, the LD voice switch 170 may determine if the calledparty has ported out by checking one of the LNP databases 172, 182. Ifit is determined that the called party has ported out (block 610), theLD voice switch 170 terminates the call normally using the serving class5 switch or the LEC access tandem (block 608), thus incurring LECterminating access charges.

If the called party is within the WNB database (block 606) and thecalled party has not ported out from their home office (block 610), theLD voice switch 170 sends a signaling message to the terminating MTSO132 to establish call handling over a DAL (block 612). For example, withreference to FIG. 1, the LD voice switch 170 communicates with the MTSO132 to reserve a circuit on the DAL 158. Subsequently, the LD voiceswitch 170 passes the voice signals to the terminating MTSO 132 foreventual passage to the second wireless device 108, which is representedin FIG. 5 by block 510.

As described herein, the ability of the LD voice switch 170 to determinethe destination of a call and whether that destination is handled by aMTSO with which the LD voice switch 170 has a DAL connection allows theLD voice switch 170 to avoid terminating access charges. In this manner,terminating access charge savings may be passed on to customers orrecognized as increased profits. As will be readily appreciated, the LDvoice switch 170 may have DAL connections with several MTSOs that arespread throughout the world and owned by a number of different wirelessservice providers. In such an arrangement, the LD voice switch 170 mayselectively use DALs to connect directly to MTSOs. For example, forbusiness reasons, the LD voice switch 170 may be configured not to useDAL connections for various wireless service providers. Suchconfiguration may be implemented based on the portions of the WNB thatthe LD voice switch searches when a call is received. A call is handledthrough its normal terminating access charge bearing termination pathwhen an entry corresponding to the called party is not found in the WNB.Accordingly, eliminating certain portions of the WNB from the searchprecludes the possibility that terminating access charge savings will beavailable for those call destinations.

While the foregoing has described functionality of the LD voice switch170 using WNB and LNP databases, it is possible that one database couldbe maintained to track ported-in and ported-out numbers. The onedatabase would, therefore, track wireless subscribers and the serviceproviders to which they belong. Such a database could be maintained by agovernmental entity, such as the FCC, or could be maintained by aprivate entity. Such an arrangement would eliminate the need to consultthe WNB and then confirm porting status with the LNP because such adatabase would be updated with all relevant network and destinationinformation. In this configuration, the LD voice switch 170 woulddetermine the identity of the called party and consult the one databaseto determine if the called party could be reached using a DAL.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a terminating MTSO process 700 may be carried outby the terminating MTSO 132. The terminating MTSO 132 receives asignaling message from the LD voice switch 170 (block 702).Subsequently, the terminating MTSO 132 and the LD voice switch 170negotiate a circuit reservation on the DAL 158 between the LD voiceswitch 170 and the terminating MTSO 132 (block 704). After the DALcircuit is established (block 704), voice signals are passed over theDAL 158 to the terminating MTSO 132, as shown at block 510 of FIG. 5.

Although the following discloses example systems including, among othercomponents, software executed on hardware, it should be noted that suchsystems are merely illustrative and should not be considered aslimiting. For example, while the foregoing describes the operation ofthe system in the context of a wireless-to-wireless call, the call couldoriginate from a land line. The same wireless peering and peeringpartnership advantages exist for land line originating calls as fromwireless calls. As a further example, it is contemplated that any or allof these hardware and software components could be embodied exclusivelyin dedicated hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmwareor in some combination of hardware, firmware and/or software.Accordingly, while the following describes example systems, persons ofordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the examples arenot the only way to implement such systems. Additionally, althoughcertain apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of theinvention have been described herein, the scope of coverage of thispatent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers everyapparatus, method and article of manufacture fairly falling within thescope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine ofequivalents.

1. A method of routing communications at an interexchange carriercomprising: receiving a communication in a first format at theinterexchange carrier; selectively converting the communication in thefirst format into an Internet Protocol format; determining a destinationat which the communication is to terminate; routing the InternetProtocol formatted communication to a router in the interexchangecarrier associated with the destination; selectively converting theInternet Protocol formatted communication to a second format at therouter; and routing at the router of the interexchange carrier thecommunication in the second format from the interexchange carrierthrough a terminating access charge free line to a terminating mobiletelephone switching office.
 2. A method as defined by claim 1, whereinthe first format is a time domain multiplexed format.
 3. A method asdefined by claim 2, wherein the second format is the time domainmultiplexed format.
 4. A method as defined by claim 1, wherein the firstformat is the Internet Protocol format.
 5. A method as defined by claim4, wherein converting the communication in the first format into theInternet Protocol format is not carried out when the first format is theInternet Protocol format.
 6. A method as defined in claim 4, wherein thesecond format is the Internet Protocol format.
 7. A method as defined inclaim 4, wherein the communication in the first format comprises a voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication.
 8. A method as defined inclaim 1, wherein routing the Internet Protocol formatted communicationto the router associated with the destination comprises routing theInternet Protocol formatted communication from a receiving router to therouter associated with the destination.
 9. A method as defined in claim8, wherein routing the Internet Protocol formatted communication to therouter associated with the destination comprises routing the InternetProtocol formatted communication through an Internet Protocol backbone.10. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein routing the InternetProtocol formatted communication to the router associated with thedestination comprises routing the Internet Protocol formattedcommunication through an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network.
 11. Amethod as defined in claim 8, wherein routing the Internet Protocolformatted communication to the router associated with the destinationcomprises routing the Internet Protocol formatted communication throughan Internet network connection.
 12. An apparatus to route communicationat an interexchange carrier, the apparatus comprising: a first mediagateway to receive a communication in a first format at theinterexchange carrier and to selectively convert the communication intoan Internet Protocol format; a destination identifier to determine adestination at which the communication is to terminate; a receivingrouter in communication with the first media gateway to route theInternet Protocol formatted communication to a router associated withthe destination; a second media gateway in communication with the routerassociated with the destination to receive the Internet Protocolformatted communication and to selectively convert the Internet Protocolformatted communication to a second format and to send the communicationin the second format through a terminating access charge free line to aterminating mobile telephone switching office associated with thedestination.
 13. An apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein thereceiving router and the router associated with the destination arecommunicatively coupled through an Internet Protocol backbone.
 14. Anapparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the receiving router and therouter associated with the destination are communicatively coupledthrough an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network.
 15. An apparatus asdefined in claim 12, wherein the receiving router and the routerassociated with the destination are communicatively coupled through anInternet network connection.
 16. A computer readable media storinginstructions that, when executed, cause one or more machines to: receivea communication in a first format at an interexchange carrier;selectively convert the communication in the first format into anInternet Protocol format; determine a destination at which thecommunication is to terminate; route the Internet Protocol formattedcommunication to a router in the interexchange carrier associated withthe destination; selectively convert the Internet Protocol formattedcommunication to a second format at the router; and route at the routerof the interexchange carrier the communication in the second format fromthe interexchange carrier through a terminating access charge free lineto a terminating mobile telephone switching office.
 17. A computerreadable medium as defined by claim 16, wherein the first format is atime domain multiplexed format.
 18. A computer readable medium asdefined by claim 16, wherein the first format is the Internet Protocolformat.
 19. A computer readable medium as defined by claim 18, whereinconverting the communication in the first format into the InternetProtocol format is not carried out when the first format is the InternetProtocol format.
 20. A computer readable medium 18, wherein thecommunication in the first format comprises a voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP) communication.
 21. A method of routing communications atan interexchange carrier comprising: receiving a communication in afirst format at the interexchange carrier; selectively converting thecommunication in the first format into an Internet Protocol format;determining a destination at which the communication is to terminate;routing the Internet Protocol formatted communication to theinterexchange carrier associated with the destination; selectivelyconverting the Internet Protocol formatted communication to a secondformat; and routing at the interexchange carrier the communication inthe second format from the interexchange carrier through a terminatingaccess charge free line to a terminating mobile telephone switchingoffice.